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Zinke Lauds Utah Pioneers In Rodeo Speech

A group of Mormon pioneers at South Pass, Wyoming, circa 1859.
Charles Roscoe Savage

U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has lauded Utah's Mormon pioneers in a stop that comes as state leaders try to persuade him to relocate the nation's largest land management agency to the state.

Zinke didn't make any major announcement about the future of the Bureau of Land Management on Tuesday, but the visit was another chance for Gov. Gary Herbert tout Utah's central location close to vast tracts the agency oversees in several Western states.

Zinke talked about access to public land and religious freedom before reading a proclamation from President Donald Trump recognizing the state holiday Pioneer Day. He then mounted a quarter hose and rode around the arena.

Zinke is considering moving its headquarters to the West and a decision could be made in the next six to eight months.